Monday November 5th would have been the last day, except that Nate convinced Kassu that day that they should stay an extra day, until Wednesday! I was thrilled! A big end-of-rainy-season storm blew in on Monday night further confirming their decision to wait an extra day for the "road" to dry out a bit.
That morning after breakfast, Nate, Kassu, Grace, and I stayed at the table and talked for about 2 hours, discussing some interesting theological issues. It was a lot of fun and showed me that Nate and I could relate well on an intellectual level and have stimulating discussion. I was loving how his mind works, what a thinker he is.
That afternoon, Grace and I wanted to go visit a severely malnourished little boy in D. who we were trying to help. Nate asked to go with us so off we went. Grace kept commenting on how Nate was so interested in seeing the medical work! ; ) It was a sad visit because little John was not doing well. I was happy that Nate got to see this side of the work. His Arabic skills again came in handy when my M. reached its limits and I was having difficulty communicating with the mother.
On our way back to the compound we passed SIM's Basic Education Learning Center (like the one Nate taught at in Y.) and some of the guys were sitting around outside their huts. They had all met Nate when he shared in their devotional time that morning and we stopped to talk to them. Grace carried on home and the 2 of us sat down with the guys to chat for a while. We had a fun conversation in Arabic and M. After a little while I excused myself and headed for the compound because I thought maybe Nate wanted to visit with the guys "man-to-man" and I didn't want it to be too obvious that I wanted to stay with him!
I went to my tukul once again feeling a bit dejected, wanting to spend more time with him because I knew he was leaving so soon. My desire to be with him propelled me outside once more, even though I thought he'd still be over at the BELC. I walked toward the dining hall and as I did so, met him coming in the front gate and walking toward me! We went into the dining hall, sat down, and continued talking for the rest of the afternoon. Our teammates came in and out the odd time to get something but really gave us space--I think they knew what was up!
That afternoon we talked on a much more personal and vulnerable level, telling each other about some of life's challenges and struggles that we had been through. I found that I trusted him and wanted to open up to him and he seemed to feel the same way. We had an amazing conversation and I think it could then be considered official--I was in love!
That evening in my tukul, I was more distraught than ever. I didn't know if he felt anything at all for me and how was I going to handle him leaving on Wednesday morning? I went to sleep with a mixture of anxiety and anticipation for the next day--the last day. Tuesday morning Grace and I were scheduled to ride into the market town and volunteer at the clinic there. You guessed it--Nate was planning to go with us. He wanted to see our work at the clinic! ; ) I was excited about the prospect of spending more time with him in town. However, that night Grace became very ill with a tummy bug...
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